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FAYETTEVILLE, AR - SEPTEMBER 15: Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium, home of the Arkansas Razorbacks during a game against the Alabama Crimson Tide on September 15, 2012 in Fayetteville, Arkansas. The Crimson Tide defeated the Razorbacks 52-0. Photo by Wesley Hitt
In Arkansas, fall means one thing: Razorback football! While not everyone is a fan of having home games in both Fayetteville and Little Rock, we’re lucky that games are accessible to residents across the entire state. Whether you check out a Hog game at home in Northwest Arkansas or catch one at War Memorial in Little Rock, here are 10 things to do at a Razorback game.
Tailgate! In Fayetteville, you’ll find folks tailgating everywhere from parking lots to The Gardens and Victory Village – the two tailgating areas near the stadium. You’ll find lots of food, games, and friendship with fellow fans. In Little Rock, the War Memorial Golf Course gets covered with fans, tents, and plenty of chicken wings, barbecue and nachos.
Learn a cheer. The Razorback Spirit Squad includes cheerleaders and a pom squad who get the crowd going in between plays. Don’t be shy – jump right in with them and yell for the Razorbacks!
Sing the fight song. After a touchdown, you’ll hear the band begin to play. Just the opening notes of the fight song will hit a fan’s ears and cause them to break out in song. Don’t know the words? Brush up before you go.
Find the mascots. We have four different mascots that you can spot at games. All of them are Razorbacks, but they each have their own flair. See if you can find them all during the game. Big Red is the traditional main costumed mascot. He’s likely to be wearing a football jersey and dancing around with fans. Sue E. is his cheerleading female counterpart. She will be shaking her pom poms getting the crowd pumped up. Pork Chop is the half-pint Razorback. He will also be wearing a football jersey, but his has the number “1/2” on it. He’s popular with the kids. Boss Hog is a giant 9-foot tall inflatable mascot who can be found bouncing around the stadium and field.
Take a picture with Tusk. In the same vein as the mascots, Tusk is a symbol of Razorback football. He’s a Russian boar, which is as close as we can get to the wild hogs in the Arkansas wilderness. Tusk comes from the same lineage as all live mascots before him, and we are now at Tusk IV. He travels to all the games from his farm outside of Dardanelle.
Watch the Running through the A and the GO HOGS spell out. Two very special traditions led by the Razorback Marching Band are the Running through the A and the GO HOGS spell out. Players enter the stadium through a giant A created by band members that stretch from the locker room to midfield. During the spell out, band members will go from 6 block formations on the field and transform into GO HOGS as the crowd cheers G, O, H, O, G, S!
Call the hogs. No Razorback game experience would be complete without a hog call. The “Wooo Pig Sooie”, according to the university, is three “calls” slowly raising your arms above your head during the “Wooo”. They say an 8-second “Wooo” is traditional, and that during it you should wiggle your fingers as you yell louder and higher pitched. Here are the official university instructions for the hog call.
Visit Dickson Street. Depending on the time of the game, you could visit Dickson before or after for food, shopping and fun. Popular spots include Hog Haus and Grubs for steak or burgers, and Arsaga’s for some coffee. Don’t miss the ever-popular Dickson Street Bookshop to find some interesting reads.
Walk down the Senior Walk. A unique tradition on campus is the Senior Walk, which features over 150,000 names of graduates engraved into the sidewalk. If you know someone that graduated from U of A, you can look for their name.
Celebrate a victory! Of course, the highlight of the evening will be watching the red fireworks light up the sky when the Razorbacks win!
What is your favorite thing to do at a Razorback Game? It’s such a unique experience that every Arkansan should go at least once.
Arkansas Women Blogger member Brittney Lee is a native Arkansan with a love for bright lights and big city. She often escapes her 20-acre home south of Fort Smith to shop, eat, and catch a concert in the big city. She blogs about her life, her faith, her adventures, her dogs, and her country home at RazorbackBritt.com.
[…] the mascot for the University of Arkansas. And “sooie” is part of the fan call during games. “Calling the hogs” is perhaps one of the most distinctly Arkansan “sayings” and something that identifies us […]
[…] Knowing people will come from far distances for top-notch barbecue and not overly enthused about the possibility of waiting in a long line, I got the family up early on a Saturday morning, and we made the drive from Little Rock to Johnson. We arrived one hour before the scheduled 11 a.m. opening to a line of zero. Frankly, this was my first time at Wright’s, so I didn’t know what to expect. Thirty minutes later, the line was thirty people deep of ravenous Arkansans ready to eat healthy portions of meat before their Hogs’ game. […]
[…] new era of Razorback football is set to begin in just a few days, and a new monument that nods to the history of the program will […]
[…] the mascot for the University of Arkansas. And “sooie” is part of the fan call during games. “Calling the hogs” is perhaps one of the most distinctly Arkansan “sayings” and something that identifies us […]
[…] Knowing people will come from far distances for top-notch barbecue and not overly enthused about the possibility of waiting in a long line, I got the family up early on a Saturday morning, and we made the drive from Little Rock to Johnson. We arrived one hour before the scheduled 11 a.m. opening to a line of zero. Frankly, this was my first time at Wright’s, so I didn’t know what to expect. Thirty minutes later, the line was thirty people deep of ravenous Arkansans ready to eat healthy portions of meat before their Hogs’ game. […]